Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson

I ran across this scary piece of video on Boing Boing and have to admit to a real queasy feeling in my stomach till I started listening to the words that this alien puppet was singing. Then it was ROTFLMAO time! I guess I am not familiar with Christian Science beliefs, or at least this this guy’s version of Christian Science. I had to do a Google search to see what else I could find about this truly amazing piece of work.

Summary by “A Welsh View : “A really freaky clip of a God-loving alien singing improvised Christian songs on a show with awful video editing.”

From Inside Pulse’s Mondo Culto XIX: The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Column I did find this out:

It all started in the mid-70s, when Chicago-born puppeteer David Hart left the chilly Midwest and headed West to take a shot at becoming an actor. Due to bit parts on Chico and the Man and the Richard Pryor vehicle Brewster’s Millions, Hart thought he was destined to become the next big star in Los Angeles. Sadly, like many before him, Hart struggled to find any follow up roles and soon he was forced to take a more extreme approach to making his name.

Hart — who also goes by David Nkrumah Liebe Hart, David King Liebe Hart, and David Unger Hart — decided to fall back on his puppeteering and started his own Christian Science children’s show on a local public access station. Raised as a Christian Scientist from an early age, it was Hart’s personal experiences with racism from his fellow worshippers that drove him to succeed as a religious entertainer.

Using Jim Henson as direct inspiration (he often claims that Henson was his Sunday School teacher), Hart built his show around distinct characters and sang his own hymns that fit the message of each show. Starting in 1988 with the assistance of his ex-wife, Hart set his program up like a variety show, offering a talk show format in which various local guests could come in and perform. If David Hart’s story was only so simple, he would probably be a respected regional children’s entertainer, if not a minor national religious figure. But instead he conceived the most baffling kid’s program ever produced, The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Show, a weekly dose of outrageous brilliance fueled by Hart’s sincere (and almost tragic) will to succeed.

Hart calls upon a menagerie of bizarre puppets to deliver his message, including Chip the Black Boy, Teddie Eddie and Doug the Dog. These aren’t so much different characters as they are various sides of Hart’s complex personality, offering a cherished peek into the mind of Hollywood’s strangest outcast. Hart’s religious philosophies have been hopelessly twisted by UFO encounters, a painful divorce, and loneliness, which adds a dimension to his show that no other public access program could ever hope to achieve. Add a heaping helping of monotonous (and lengthy) self-penned hymns and a parade of whacked out local celebrity guests and you’ve got the most bizarre show